Modesto area grows plenty of pumpkins. Here’s how to select and safely display them
Pumpkins are part of Halloween fun, as long as they don’t injure people who carve them or set porches on fire.
The Modesto area is the state’s top grower of the varieties suited to making jack-o’-lanterns. The crop ends up at grocery stores and at pumpkin patches at schools, parks, churches and other sites.
The area’s 2023 weather has been close to ideal, with plenty of irrigation water during the warm growing season. Shortages have happened in some parts of the nation, such as drought-plagued Texas and Kentucky farms with extreme heat.
San Joaquin County accounted for about half of California’s production in 2021, with about $28.1 million in sales from 5,500 acres, the state Department of Food and Agriculture reported.
The Manteca area has two of the major producers: Van Groningen & Sons, along Jack Tone Road, and Perry & Sons, off Highway 99.
Stanislaus County’s growers had about $7.4 million in sales from 541 acres in 2021. The CDFA has not yet complied last year’s numbers.
How to choose a proper pumpkin
These tips come from marthastewart.com:
- Make sure the pumpkin has its full color, which is orange for most varieties but varies with others.
- Avoid pumpkins with soft spots or major blemishes, which could mean they already are rotting.
- Especially eerie jack-o’-lanterns can emerge from pumpkins that are misshapen but otherwise sound. “So-called ‘warty’ pumpkins have been really popular during Halloween because they make great faces for goblins or witches,” Ohio grower Lana Rufener Dussel said.
How to carve a pumpkin safely
Consumer Reports shares this advice for injury-free carving:
- Purchase a pumpkin-carving kit rather than using sharp kitchen knives. The specialty tools can saw through rinds, poke holes for facial features, and scoop out the innards.
- Do not let kids 14 or younger do the cutting. Instead, they can draw the features with a marker beforehand.
- Cut the top of the pumpkin first, but leave it in place to provide stability while carving the rest.
- Keep your hands out of the pumpkin’s interior while the saw is in action.
How not to start a Halloween fire
Jack-o’-lanterns should never have candles inside them, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It suggests battery-powered lights instead.
Candles and other Halloween decor caused an average of 770 home fires a year from 2014 to 2019, the National Fire Protection Association reported.
California does not produce the type of pumpkin suited for frozen pies and canned filling for Thanksgiving. Midwestern growers handle that part of the market.
Local pumpkins do work nicely when roasting the seeds, as noted on Facebook by Perry & Sons:
“Can you eat the pumpkins you carve? Technically, yes, but they’re not going to taste very good. We say skip the flesh and roast the seeds!! A much better return for your trouble and the kids will love them!!”
This story was originally published October 6, 2023 at 2:57 PM.
